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The Rush-Henrietta Central School District is asking residents to approve a school reshuffling that would eliminate its standalone Ninth Grade Academy and introduce full-day kindergarten.

The proposal, which residents will vote on Feb. 10, is the culmination of a two-year study on classroom space constraints in the district. In a mailing to residents, school board president Diane McBride said implementation would cost $18.5 million and would be paid from existing capital funds, meaning there would be no tax levy increase.

Under the new proposal, the Crane, Fyle, Leary and Winslow school buildings would be K-3, with all students, including kindergarteners, going to school for six hours. The Sherman and Vollmer buildings would be grades 4-6, Burger and Roth would be grades 7-9 and the high school would be grades 10-12.

The arrangement would be unique in Monroe County, although East and West Irondequoit and Honeoye Falls-Lima have similar four-tiered ladders. Its main purpose is to preserve small class sizes, something the district says it cannot do with the existing building configuration.

If approved, the new alignment would take effect in the 2017-18 school year. If it is rejected, the school board will consider an alternate plan that involves adding physical space to the four existing elementary schools.

Students in the 7-9 buildings could still participate in high school-level sports and drama. The school day would begin 35 minutes later for high schoolers, at 8:15 a.m. The geographical feeder areas for the four K-3 schools would be different from what they are now for the K-5 schools.

Rush-Henrietta is one of the few districts in New York not to offer full-day kindergarten. Webster and West Irondequoit, two other late adopters, both recently made the change to full-day. Significant state aid is available for the transition.